


Remember when

by orphan_account



Series: Collection of short fics [10]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M, Recovered Memories, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-14
Updated: 2012-10-14
Packaged: 2017-12-22 12:29:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin and Arthur reminisce beside a canal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remember when

Standing beside the old, overgrown canal, watching the ducks swim in spiralling patterns across the still water, Merlin’s fingers entwine with Arthur’s. He tilts his head and rests his ear against Arthur’s shoulder, sighing in that world-weary way that he always does when he finds himself slipping into the familiar hold of a warmth and happiness that can only come from finding Arthur again.

It had taken 26 years from birth this time, but it had been longer than that since Merlin had seen Arthur - 53 years, 4 months and seventeen days, to be exact. Each of Arthur’s death dates is etched into Merlin’s memory like a burning scar. He’s never asked Arthur if it’s the same for him. The thought is too terrifying.

“Do you remember when we worked here?” Arthur murmurs, the rise and fall of his voice as familiar as sunset.

It jolts Merlin for a moment, that he can so totally know a man who, by all accounts, he has only just met. It jolts Merlin to be reminded of the first time he heard Arthur use that tone, in a time when they were both fresh and new, and the world was full of quests and dragons. It jolts him to feel a thousand years of that tone, saved just for him in their quietest moments, rush through his body; fingers tingling, heart racing, tongue thickening. In that second, life alone is as much a blessing as Arthur’s tender touch.

“Yes,” Merlin whispers, his nose filling with the half-remembered scent of heavy industry. “I worked tending the horses that dragged your boat.”

Arthur turns his head and smiles into Merlin’s hair. It makes Merlin shiver.

“It was lucky we came back so close to each other that time,” Arthur muses. “Not like the time in Switzerland.”

Merlin chuckles. “That was rather ridiculous. We ought to make a pact to head for London during our twenties next time.”

The pad of Arthur’s thumb traces gently over Merlin’s knuckles. “If only we could remember this conversation before meeting next time.”

“Destiny is a fickle bitch, eh?”

Arthur huffs out a laugh but his fingers tighten around Merlin’s. “I’m glad I’ve found you,” he says. “It was too long this time.”

“I know,” Merlin lifts his head to smile at Arthur. “But we’re here now.”


End file.
